Southern Link Road Preferred Route

[Amanda Martin]

Looks like Archie is very busy digging himself out from underneath the post and firing off standard replies, although I think he needs to "read the question" as my old English teacher used to say; you ask about the SLR and get a reply about the eastern crossing. 

 

Slightly worried that this eastern crossing genie is about to be out of the bottle too.  The extra 3km link to Ledbury Road would be as bad if not worse than the SLR.  Problem is everybody on HT has an opinion but no-one else has read the reports as far as I know!

[Aylestone Voice]

The planning application can now be viewed and commented on (objected to no doubt!) on the Council's website

[Glenda Powell]

I have found out today that unfortunately Phil Edwards is back on the council planning committee, so expect him to vote in favour of this road and his bus lane/cycle lane and the boulevarde of trees down the middle of belmont road.

[Denise Lloyd]

Well let us hope he will remember he was voted in as an Indie and not the self glorification party 

[Glenda Powell]

Well said, but I think we will wait a long time. he in the HT next week accepting an award and money for his Country park/ Newton farmer environment group. He is looking very smug, he asking for more volunteers and you have to contact his wife Bobby Edwards to apply. maybe someone can put it on here and see our members responses.

[Denise Lloyd]

ATTENTION: A public meeting coming up at the Kindle Centre on Friday 5th June ...7-30pm ...."Transport in Herefordshire - Southern Relief Road and Why We Are Where We Are" .... more details soon. Please put this date in your diaries as time is short on this issue.

 

This as per John Llewelyn Perkins FB page

[Denise Lloyd]

Whilst I would quite like to attend the meeting on 5th June I would like an assurance that there is NOT going to be 2 plus hours spent on the evilness of chicken houses.  I want to hear Material Planning Considerations why this road should not be built.

[Amanda Martin]

Don't worry, Denise, I can be equally tedious on the evils of the road lobby but no promises  - these things tend to free range widely. 

[Amanda Martin]

It's taken a long time for the penny to drop but after researching the historic links between successive governments and the oil and gas industry, I've realised that the last thing that BP stooge Cameron wants to do is solve traffic problems.   

[Denise Lloyd]

It "pumps him up"

[megilleland]

The planning application can now be viewed and commented on (objected to no doubt!) on the Council's website

 

Not sure if the links for this application are on HV. Here is the 

 

PLANNING NOTICE

NOTICE UNDER ARTICLE 13 OF APPLICATION FOR

PLANNING PERMISSION ACCOMPANIED BY AN

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

 

and the Planning Application (P151314/F) here with 107 supporting documents, but no representaions from the public - strange.

[Denise Lloyd]

The Planning Office are way behind on posting represetations onto the website.  At present there is a 14 to 21 day delay before reps are posted.

[Glenda Powell]

I will be attending this meeting at the Kindle centre, to see what is said and comment given the opportunity. It is another 'road to nowhere' because there is no river crossing now. it will not relieve the congestion on Belmont road but in fact add to it. If this goes through with its bus and cycle lane on the left and trees down the middle it will cut the left hand side of the road in half. Also where will the cars position themselves if they want to turn right into Walnutree Ave with the area that is now allocated to the right turn is a tree line boulavard?

[jeanharris]

The Planning Office are way behind on posting represetations onto the website.  At present there is a 14 to 21 day delay before reps are posted.

this is absolutely disgraceful. How are we supposed to view objections (or otherwise) made. What have the council to hide - keep us In the dark and feed us Bull sh****t

[ragwert]

Who thought up this bloody bus lane crap? We really do have utter clueless stupid idiots in the planning dept.

[Glenda Powell]

In two words Phil Edwards the new councillor for Newton Farm.

[ragwert]

On reading the transport assessment 7b referring to public consultation I see non of the 221 people who responded to the questionnaires no one commented about a by-pass.Also q7 please ad any other comments not one refers to a by-pass.Anyone find this strange because I do.

The main part and the whole idea of the SLR with all its packages is to reduce congestion.Well the SLR won't do anything.A bloody bus lane certainly won't do it.And as for the tree lined boulevard to encourage

people to walk....Come on,seriously 

[Glenda Powell]

ragwert, I totally agree with your comments.

[jeanharris]

I notice we have 3 representations posted on HC website SLR. Heard today that surveys are still being carried out on route SC2 and they will not have the information available for some time. Planning may not go in before Sept/October if at all with a bit of luck

[greenknight]

I notice we have 3 representations posted on HC website SLR. Heard today that surveys are still being carried out on route SC2 and they will not have the information available for some time. Planning may not go in before Sept/October if at all with a bit of luck

Could only open two of the three said e-mails from members of the public.

 

So here would be my fly in the ointment Jean.

 

At this time there is no bridge but what if at the last minute out of nowhere a bridge was thrown in on the west side as part of the deal with a 2nd stage plan around the corner to drive on the concept of completing a western bypass up to the A49 @ Holmer?

 

With planning considerations already in for Holmer,Three Elms and Whitecross before we even get started around this relief road it might just be that those in the know have been deliberately setting this up so that people will feel that victory has been achieved if at the last moment a bridge gets thrown in.

 

There is a common consensus that both English and Welsh governments are keen to continue A465 dual carriageway from Abergavenny to Hereford and this western bypass would move non local traffic around the city.

 

We just need to be prepared for this plan which might be difficult to argue. Without a bridge this is a non starter however include a bridge then there will be a lot less resistance.

[Cloudberry]

A western Hereford Relief Road with western bridge is in the Core Strategy, so I'm sure we will hear much more about that soon.....

 

Everyone seems to have heard that constraints would be a problem for a bridge on the east side. But somehow the constraints on the west side of Hereford remain ignored. ALL of the River Wye is a designated SAC and SSSI, and any bridge would have to cross that.

 

It seems rather convenient that despite the amazing landscape, heritage and biodiversity in Breinton, there have been very few other statutory designations. But at least there is the National Trust's Breinton Springs. There is also ancient woodland with wild daffodils, bluebells, orchids, etc. all along the river cliff, and water meadows (similar to those by the Lugg but not with the stones) with their former channels. Why has Lower Breinton, (by Breinton Springs) never been made a Conservation Area? Around the church there are several listed buildings, a scheduled monument mound that looks like a castle, and the remains of an abandoned medieval village.

 

Have you ever taken the Wye Valley Walk out of Hereford by the water works? Very soon you are in a wooded, steep-sided river valley with no sight of houses at all. You can see kingfishers, mandarin ducks and lots more wildlife. This is where they want to put a bridge across. They will tell you that it will have "minor adverse" implications for wildlife.

 

This landscape truly is irreplaceable, and it's a huge hidden asset for leisure, being so close to Hereford city.

[greenknight]

I don't disagree Cloudberry so I'm delighted to hear about the preservation of the farm near Kington where traditional methods of farming were maintained for hundreds of years though not all Herefordshire is the same.

Some would argue that as a County we have been protected from development thus far compared to other neighbours on the east side. We have discussed this before but I have been surprised that the level of biodiversity in Herefordhsire is not as great in my opinion as that in somewhere like Dorset or Wiltshire or chalk download aside perhaps Oxfordshire. My personal birdcount is still less here than say Hampshire yet I would have thought with such opportunities of landscape you would expect to see a multitude of farmland birds yet this is not the case.

I am a big fan of corridors and have seen the benefits of hedging,treelines even more recently canals and railways so who is to say that another way over the Wye could create such benefits. I purchased my copy of "The Birds in Herefordshire" published last year. A great naturalists reference tool.

 

In answer to your question I have not completed the walk for a long time but was lucky once to find Ragged Robin in the hedgerow...That's Ragged Robin not Ragwert lurking in the hedgerow!

[ragwert]

I don't disagree Cloudberry so I'm delighted to hear about the preservation of the farm near Kington where traditional methods of farming were maintained for hundreds of years though not all Herefordshire is the same.

Some would argue that as a County we have been protected from development thus far compared to other neighbours on the east side. We have discussed this before but I have been surprised that the level of biodiversity in Herefordhsire is not as great in my opinion as that in somewhere like Dorset or Wiltshire or chalk download aside perhaps Oxfordshire. My personal birdcount is still less here than say Hampshire yet I would have thought with such opportunities of landscape you would expect to see a multitude of farmland birds yet this is not the case.

I am a big fan of corridors and have seen the benefits of hedging,treelines even more recently canals and railways so who is to say that another way over the Wye could create such benefits. I purchased my copy of "The Birds in Herefordshire" published last year. A great naturalists reference tool.

 

In answer to your question I have not completed the walk for a long time but was lucky once to find Ragged Robin in the hedgerow...That's Ragged Robin not Ragwert lurking in the hedgerow!

Wert as in me or Wort as in the weed :-)

[greenknight]

I know mate I could not resist it!..I went on a ragwort pull once..bloody hard work and before you say anything it was voluntary!

[dippyhippy]

Hi Cloudberry, I do that loop walk on quite a regular basis!

 

Leaving from Whitecross, down to the river walk, follow it along to Breinton, up onto Kings Acre Road, then back down to Whitecross!

 

It's beautiful! I'm amazed more folks don't seem to use it. Whenever I bump into people walking, they are usually visitors to Our County! Perhaps many don't appreciate what's right on their doorsteps??

 

Still only three representations showing today..... but I was able to open all three!

 

Let's hope plenty more objections are submitted.

[Cambo]

I've just driven through Mordiford there are lots of signs & banners one read "your bypass our village" there is a lot of traffic coming through there myself included with some really tight bends I'm sure the RTA's are going to be on the rise through Mordiford in the course of time?

[Cloudberry]

If you were going to propose a town/city to expand into a “growth hubâ€, who would actually choose to start with somewhere bisected by a river, and with only one road bridge? Add the stunning landscape and heritage all around, that should not be spoiled for future generations, and don't you conclude that Hereford ought to be allowed to grow only on a much more modest scale!

 

So I quite agree about Mordiford, Cambo.  But the point is that although bypasses sound like the answer they won’t help at all because here they are ALL related to huge building programmes adding more and more cars into the system. We are to expect 16,500 new homes across Herefordshire by 2031, and many would be built BEFORE a new river bridge and bypass. How many extra cars does that mean? And they are ALL going to be coming in to central Hereford for shopping, hospital, schools or one thing or another.

 

For a start, think of the impact on Whitecross Road and Roman Road of the proposed 1000 new homes at Three Elms, planning proposal going in this autumn. Plus all those already approved at Holmer. Then multiply…. and you will see that the proposed single carriageway “by-pass† or “relief road†costing up to £200 million would be no such thing.

[greenknight]

If you were going to propose a town/city to expand into a “growth hubâ€, who would actually choose to start with somewhere bisected by a river, and with only one road bridge? Add the stunning landscape and heritage all around, that should not be spoiled for future generations, and don't you conclude that Hereford ought to be allowed to grow only on a much more modest scale!

 

So I quite agree about Mordiford, Cambo.  But the point is that although bypasses sound like the answer they won’t help at all because here they are ALL related to huge building programmes adding more and more cars into the system. We are to expect 16,500 new homes across Herefordshire by 2031, and many would be built BEFORE a new river bridge and bypass. How many extra cars does that mean? And they are ALL going to be coming in to central Hereford for shopping, hospital, schools or one thing or another.

 

For a start, think of the impact on Whitecross Road and Roman Road of the proposed 1000 new homes at ThreeElms, planning proposal going in this autumn. Plus all those already approved at Holmer. Then multiply…. and you will see that the proposed single carriageway “by-pass† or “relief road†costing up to £200 million would be no such thing.

The problem for me is that I have heard your argument before. Winchester could lay claim to all your points and more after all an ancient capital of England, Roman Roads, chalk downland and chalk stream rivers...I could go on but it's a battle between growth population and our environment and how best the two can co-habit and there are no easy answers. Winchester as a city is probably just two fields away from being assimilated into the urban sprawl of what has become known as Solent City.

 

Herefordshire at best could become an outdoor playground for leisure and recreation which I would embrace however as one of the few remaining low population areas in England we can't avoid or resist the inevitable population growth which will surge as can already be seen in our schools.

 

I would much rather prepare for this in a sustainable controlled manner which takes into account our environment than resist. I don't want to see anymore waisted public money for an unstoppable flood of people is coming unless of course you feel that Herefordshire is just for Herefordians and in this case I would suggest that half its current population can't be called that sadly myself included. I am no nimby however just because I've got a foot in the door I have no desire to shut the door behind me for there is still room for more. We just need to adapt and have a simpler more practical lifestyle, be less demanding and selfish and get away from this materialistic ideology. As a country we all need to pull our weight and sadly for Herefordshire we are where we are today because we have kept out the flood for a long time but the old dam is creaking and about to collapse. Our failure to relieve the pressure means that when it bursts we will see massive changes to our environment as the flood of people runs through our byways but it is not apocalyptic just sadly more noticeable.

[Amanda Martin]

 I would never advocate a bunker mentality but there's a circularity in the rationale for these schemes that betrays their dishonesty: on the one hand there's the usual rhetoric about resolving congestion problems; on the other hand the roads are required to stimulate growth and the housing is therefore needed to accommodate the incomers who have been attracted by the roads and housing. It's intellectually bankrupt and defies any common sense justification.    If we don't build the roads, we won't have the housing or therefore the incomers.  In any event, I don't see that carpeting the countryside with formulaic roads,sheds and shoddy boxes and importing thousands of people so that the tarmac and growth crazed  LEP and Council can raise money and justify their existence is either progress or inevitable. I agree with Cloudberry:  we need to develop more thoughtfully and incrementally and in a way that really does respect the county's irreplaceable environmental assets instead of just saying we ought to. 

 

There's always a glaring mismatch between the rhetoric of green motherhood statements in the Council's policy documents and what they actually want to do.  There's much talk of "balance" between the need to grow whilst respecting wildlife, habitats and landscapes but in reality there is no balance. On the contrary,  the slightest perceived economic benefit can justify the wiping out of 120 acres of ancient woodland, as at Newbury. Here in Herefordshire, history will repeat itself if we don't act: where there is the slightest conflict between growth and intangible assets that can't be quantified in pounds and pence, the latter will be simply swept aside. The Southern Link Road will take out an ancient landcape of gently winding lanes, ancient woodland, well kept hedgerows and valuable habitats for no discernible good reason and with a confused rationale of wanting the road to solve congestion whilst also wanting the road to facilitate growth and provide access to Rotherwas. Even if the economic benefits could be demonstrated, we don't have the right to go on destroying our children's heritage for short term gain the way we are. 

 

The M3 through Twyford Down and the even more destructive Newbury Bypass should be lessons to us to be wary of politicians who tell us these road schemes are to save us time and bring us prosperity.  In reality  they are nothing more than the cynical blandishments of a road lobby that has called the shots for decades and is significantly invested in keeping us in cars, building roads and fuelling congestion for as long as possible.   Even Steven Norris admitted that the protesters at Newbury were right: the benefits of the road did not justify the destruction and were illusory in any event.  This much destruction to save motorists ten minutes on their journey is not, to my mind, a good reason for destroying Snelsmore Common.

[greenknight]

I would never advocate a bunker mentality but there's a circularity in the rationale for these schemes that betrays their dishonesty: on the one hand there's the usual rhetoric about resolving congestion problems; on the other hand the roads are required to stimulate growth and the housing is therefore needed to accommodate the incomers who have been attracted by the roads and housing. It's intellectually bankrupt and defies any common sense justification.    If we don't build the roads, we won't have the housing or therefore the incomers.  In any event, I don't see that carpeting the countryside with formulaic roads,sheds and shoddy boxes and importing thousands of people so that the tarmac and growth crazed  LEP and Council can raise money and justify their existence is either progress or inevitable. I agree with Cloudberry:  we need to develop more thoughtfully and incrementally and in a way that really does respect the county's irreplaceable environmental assets instead of just saying we ought to. 

 

There's always a glaring mismatch between the rhetoric of green motherhood statements in the Council's policy documents and what they actually want to do.  There's much talk of "balance" between the need to grow whilst respecting wildlife, habitats and landscapes but in reality there is no balance. On the contrary,  the slightest perceived economic benefit can justify the wiping out of 120 acres of ancient woodland, as at Newbury. Here in Herefordshire, history will repeat itself if we don't act: where there is the slightest conflict between growth and intangible assets that can't be quantified in pounds and pence, the latter will be simply swept aside. The Southern Link Road will take out an ancient landcape of gently winding lanes, ancient woodland, well kept hedgerows and valuable habitats for no discernible good reason and with a confused rationale of wanting the road to solve congestion whilst also wanting the road to facilitate growth and provide access to Rotherwas. Even if the economic benefits could be demonstrated, we don't have the right to go on destroying our children's heritage for short term gain the way we are. 

 

The M3 through Twyford Down and the even more destructive Newbury Bypass should be lessons to us to be wary of politicians who tell us these road schemes are to save us time and bring us prosperity.  In reality  they are nothing more than the cynical blandishments of a road lobby that has called the shots for decades and is significantly invested in keeping us in cars, building roads and fuelling congestion for as long as possible.   Even Steven Norris admitted that the protesters at Newbury were right: the benefits of the road did not justify the destruction and were illusory in any event.  This much destruction to save motorists ten minutes on their journey is not, to my mind, a good reason for destroying Snelsmore Common.

Ah Amanda...Well I'm not going to go around 'the houses' with you on this subject again so just carry on and do nothing and see how bad things will become after all we have noticed a surge in traffic recently and you certainly can't blame massive house building or new roads around here for that.I'm sure all those villages like Mordiford will be delighted with your mindset and an absolute guaranteed vote winner for the IOC next time round. For every one individual that does not want their little world to change there are thousands crying out for a better life.. you know what that does not sit right with me.